The perfecting of an appeal shall not stay enforcement of the judgment or order of the trial court if the judgment or order appealed from directs the assignment or delivery of personal property, including documents, whether by the appellant or another party to the action, or the sale of personal property upon the foreclosure of a mortgage, or other lien thereon, unless an undertaking in a sum and upon conditions fixed by the trial court, is given that the appellant or party ordered to assign or deliver the property will obey and satisfy the order of the reviewing court, and will not commit or suffer to be committed any damage to the property, and that if the judgment or order appealed from is affirmed, or the appeal is withdrawn or dismissed, the appellant shall pay the damage suffered to such property and the value of the use of such property for the period of the delay caused by the appeal. The appellant may cause the property to be placed in the custody of an officer designated by the court to abide the order of the reviewing court, and such fact shall be considered by the court in fixing the amount of the undertaking. If the judgment or order appealed from directs the sale of perishable property the trial court may order such property to be sold and the proceeds thereof to be deposited with the clerk of the trial court to abide the order of the reviewing court; such fact shall be considered by the court in fixing the amount of the undertaking.
§ 917.2.Judgment Or Order Directing Assignment Or Delivery of Personal Property Or Sale of Personal Property Upon Foreclosure
Title 13. Appeals In Civil Actions · Chapter 2. Stay of Enforcement and Other Proceedings · Last amended 1972 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 917.2 requires an undertaking, in a sum and on conditions the trial court fixes, before an appeal stays a judgment directing the assignment or delivery of personal property or the sale of personal property under foreclosure of a lien, and lets the appellant instead deposit the property with a court-designated officer.
Full Text of § 917.2
Plain-English Summary
When a judgment orders a party to hand over personal property — including documents — or orders personal property sold to satisfy a lien, § 917.2 stops the appeal from stopping that order unless an undertaking is given. Unlike § 917.1's fixed formula, the trial court sets both the amount and the conditions here, tailored to the property at issue.
The undertaking has to promise two things: that the appellant will obey and satisfy whatever the reviewing court ultimately orders, and won't damage the property in the meantime, and that if the judgment is affirmed or the appeal is withdrawn or dismissed, the appellant will pay for any damage the property suffered and the value of losing its use during the delay.
The appellant has an alternative to a straight bond: placing the property in the custody of an officer the court designates, to hold pending the reviewing court's decision. The court weighs that option in setting the bond amount. And if the property is perishable, the trial court can order it sold anyway, with the proceeds deposited with the clerk to abide the outcome of the appeal — again, a fact the court considers in fixing the undertaking.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kinds of judgments does § 917.2 cover?
Judgments directing the assignment or delivery of personal property, including documents, and judgments directing the sale of personal property to foreclose a mortgage or other lien on it.
How is the bond amount set under § 917.2?
The trial court fixes both the sum and the conditions of the undertaking; there's no fixed formula like the doubling rule in § 917.1.
Can the appellant avoid posting a bond by handing over the property instead?
Yes. The appellant may place the property in the custody of a court-designated officer to await the reviewing court's order, and the court considers that option in setting the undertaking.
What happens if the property is perishable?
The trial court may order it sold, with the proceeds deposited with the clerk to abide the reviewing court's decision, a fact also weighed in setting the undertaking amount.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats. 1972, Ch. 546.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: ccp 917.2 stay delivery of personal property appealappeal bond assignment of personal property californiastay foreclosure sale of personal property pending appeal